i'm by no means a big harry potter fan, have not read any books, and only saw one movie and thats because it was directed by cuaron. that said, i liked this movie quite a bit. the special effects were mostly on-point and weren't distractingly plastic too often, but thats a minor quibble.

does anyone else think its funny how these movies seem to be single-handedly employing the bulk of british character actors? i mean, they've casted everyone except for the people that were in lord of the rings (the ians mcholm and mckellan, for two examples) but they do a good job reppin' everybody else: ralph fiennes, brendan gleeson, imelda staunton, david thewlis, emma thompson, etc. hell, they even cast warwick freakin' davis!